1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for use with a floating flooring system. Specifically, the device is hereafter refered to as a glider bar which can form flush transitions between floating floor sections of a laminate or wood flooring and can be used as an alternative to an overlapping T-molding; an overlapping stair nosing; an overlaping hard surface reducer or an overlapping carpet reducer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Laminate flooring having excellent abrasion resistant properties was invented by Kent O. Lindgren et al and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,503, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. Such laminate flooring can be provided with tongue and groove elements so as to interfit with similar flooring elements to form a floor covering of high abrasion resistance.
This new laminate flooring material can be used as a substitute for conventional flooring materials, such as wood, stone, ceramic tile, etc. to simulate the appearance of such conventional materials and, in addition, has the capability of being provided in wide range of appearance, including fantasy designs by virtue of incorporation of a printed sheet visible under the upper surface which such natural materials as wood or stone, etc. could not duplicate.
In Europe, conventional flooring which is attached to a subfloor has evolved into a "floating" floor system. That is, unlike conventional wood, stone, etc., which is fastened to a subfloor by mechanical fasteners and/or adhesive, the "floating" floor of conventional wood or of laminated abrasion resistant properties is not attached to a subfloor, such as a concrete or wood subfloor.
A "floating" floor may have the components thereof attached to one another mechanically, such as with clips or other mechanical fasteners or by a mechanical joint of the floating flooring material itself, or to a system of floor planks that is only joined at the tongue and groove joint of each component of the floor planks with glue. While it may be installed over and attached to a floating underlay, such as foam, felt or other sound dampening material, it is held in place by gravity and not fixedly attached to a rigid underlayment, e.g. to a wood or concrete subfloor. A floating floor is a finished floor which is not attached in any way to the subfloor, i.e. the floor supporting materials beneath the floor itself. It is not attached to this subfloor with adhesives or mechanical fasteners or in any other way. A floating floor is only attached to itself, i.e. the joints of a floating plank, block or square are attached to themselves with glue at their common joints, or as an alternative to glue, then a mechanical fastener can hold the joints together without fastening the floor to the subfloor or a mechanical joint made of the same material as the finished floor that allows the joints to interlock to themselves. The floating floor is thus free to expand and contract according to the composition of the materials of that flooring. There is typically an expansion space around the perimeter of the rooms with floating floors as well as an expansion space around any fixed objects in that same room. This space allows the floating floor to expand and contract. Around the perimeter of such a floating floor, formulated from a series of planks or panels glued to corresponding planks or panels to form a continuous flooring, is an expansion space between the flooring and the walls of a room in which the flooring is installed. Such an expansion space, typically about 1/4 inch, allows the floor to expand and/or contract, with changes in the environment, especially temperature and/or humidity.
As noted above, all of the joints in a floating floor are glued or mechanically fastened. In doorways, or archways, between rooms, where one floating floor joins another floor, an overlapping T-molding is used to conceal the expansion space and produce a flush finished flooring system between the two floors meeting in that doorway.
However, a T-molding creates a raised protrusion in the floor in the transition from one floor to another, and such an overlapping molding raised above the surface of a finished floor creates a surface that can collect dirt, is more difficult to clean, and, because it is raised, it is subject to more severe wear when struck by any object moving across the finished floor. Overlapping moldings can also be a tripping hazard, since they are a raised protrusion from the smooth finished flooring surface. Also, the transition is not waterproof and permits fluids to leak through the joint to the subflooring when the floating floors are subjected to routine maintenance, i.e. washing.
The glider bar of the invention also allows the contraction and expansion energies, forces, of a floating floor, to move freely within each room independent of any flooring transition moldings, i.e. hard surface reducers, carpet reducers, and stair nosings in that room or rooms. The glider bar also transfers the contraction and expansion energies, forces, of a floating floor, from one room to another when two floating floors join in narrow doorways or archways by providing both independent movement for each room and also by allowing and supporting, strengthening, the narrow doorway, or archway, joints so that those contraction and expansion energies can transfer from one room to the other.
Thus, the present invention is concerned with providing an alternative to the traditional moldings used with floating floors to overcome the deficiencies associated therewith.